LINDA H. POST FINE ART

PAINTINGS

detail from "Balancing Act"

The imagery in my current paintings reflects the seascapes of my childhood, with weather often on the cusp of change. The striped, peaked tents evoke an especially vivid dream, but do actually exist on Chappaquiddick Island, Martha’s Vineyard. These landscapes are the settings for a series of figurative paintings that explore the mysteries of adolescence — and probe the memories of my own youth, as well.

A large-scale oil painting on linen canvas (87" x 56"), "Fever Dream" is the first of the tent series that truly brings the figures inside to explore one of the structures - which turns out, in this case, to be an elaborately draped and decorated Bedouin tent.

The title painting of a recent solo show, "Balancing Act" is 49" x 42", oil on a wooden panel. This piece was transformed considerably from the original composition during it's painting; it once included additional figures and a different landscape.

"Birdwatchers of Chappaquiddick" is 31" x 76", oil on linen, an unusually horizontal painting that was completed over the course of more than a year. In the original sketch, the stone wall, the dunes and the center bird did not exist, and the tents were more prominent.

One of the first paintings that featured the striped tents of Chappaquiddick, "Blue Summers and Fleeting Castles" is 49"x42", oil on wood panel. The adolescent girls and young boys stand in sharp contrast to the foggy, atmospheric setting. What is the mysterious object at their feet?

Sirens

At 72" high by 84" wide, "Sirens" is my largest painting, requiring a platform to reach the top third. The vivid red sky actually began as underpainting, but the cadmium red set off the figures so brilliantly that the red became permanent. Read more about this painting in my blog.

The Willing Suspension of Disbelief

The young woman on the right, leaning against the fence, is the anchor in reality for this piece. I think of the the girl in the tutu cradling a seagull as an apparition, along with the glowing tents. After I stretched this painting, I repainted all the tents. To see its progress, read my blog posts. 72" x 53".

Speaking the Language of Birds

I have included birds in my work for a long time. Sometimes in flight, sometimes a major character in the narrative, like this talking seagull. The surroundings were inspired by travels to the Caribbean (the translucent drapes); France (the striped carousel tent); Westport, MA (the stone wall, fence and water view). "Speaking the Language of Birds" is 75" x 48", oil on linen. Read more about this painting in my blog.

Hope and Feathers

"Hope and Feathers" is actually a preliminary oil sketch for a new, wall-size (11 feet wide) painting that is in progress. The girl in the feathered mask is just one of four human figures and lots of bird imagery in this work. 12" x 12" on a wood panel.